The Good, The Bad, and The “Two Types Of People” Movie Quote

In many movies, there’s the “let me break it down for you” moment – when a character turns to another and drops some knowledge in the form of a single line.

To paraphrase, that line goes something like… “There are two types of people in the world.”

The quote — or something like it — has been showing up since the 1960s and has gathered steam since then, appearing in such films as Paint Your Wagon (1969), The Fisher King (1991), Signs (2002), The Italian Job (2003), Mean Girls (2004), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Stuck In Love (2012), Beautiful Creatures (2013), amongst others.

The earliest version we’ve found is in 1962’s Longest Day when Robert Mitchum declares: “Only two kinds of people are gonna stay on this beach — those that are already dead and those that are gonna die. Now get off your butts! You guys are the Fightin’ 29th!”

We never really thought about how often “the two types/two kinds of” line has appeared on the big screen until we saw last month’s trailer for “Focus” with Will Smith.

Will says: “There’s two kinds of people in this world. There’s hammers. And nails. You decide which one you want to be.”

We love Will, but it’s an awful quote, isn’t it? And If you’d like to listen to it, forward to 2:13 in the trailer below…

But if you don’t want to be driven mad, here are some of our favorite “two types/two kinds of people” quotes uttered over the years.

***

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966): You see, in this world there’s two kinds of people, my friend. Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig.

Pink Flamingos (1972): I guess there’s just two kinds of people, Miss Sandstone. My kind of people, and assholes. It’s rather obvious which category you fit into. Have a nice day.

Cocktail (1988): You see, there are two kinds of people in this world: the workers and the hustlers. The hustlers never work and the workers never hustle…

What About Bob? (1991): There are two types of people in this world: Those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don’t.

Scent Of A Woman (1992): Oh, uh, Charlie — about your little problem — there are two kinds of people in this world: those who stand up and face the music, and those who run for cover. Cover is better.

Hustle & Flow: (2005): There are two types of people: those that talk the talk and those that walk the walk. People who walk the walk sometimes talk the talk but most times they don’t talk at all, ’cause they walkin’. Now, people who talk the talk, when it comes time for them to walk the walk, you know what they do? They talk people like me into walkin’ for them.

(500) Days Of Summer (2009): There’s only two kinds of people in the world. There’s women, and there’s men. Summer Finn was a woman.

***

If you would like to know more about the “two kind” quote, please screen the below YouTube video by James Chapman. It sums up the phenomenon quite nicely and completely. Enjoy!

You’ve heard about the bands in your city and the movies playing on your television, but there’s great music, art, fashion and fun to be found the world over. Travel with us and learn about new styles, hot trends and trailblazing ideas, whether it’s an interview from New York, a design from Hong Kong or a movie from Mumbai. This is NewsWhistle, your international passport to the latest news, entertainment and travel stories. See and shop the world!